Entry tags:

avatar, avatar: the last airbender, the last airbender

AVATAR: ZAZZLE/VIACOM FAIL
Wow. OH WOW. All but one of the products on my racebending.com Zazzle store has been removed because "it contained content in violation of Viacom's intellectual property rights". This means not just images (all of which were drawn by me), but also WORDS.

Apparently a t-shirt saying 'Aang can stay Asian and still save the world' is a copyright violation, but images and words taken directly from the cartoon are just fine. Deleted as well, right after I made this post. Well...okay then. O.o

Anyway, this just means I get to make more Zazzle products and be more circumspect AND publicise on my Zazzle store that my products were removed by Viacom's orders. Awesome...?


The images in question:


ETA 1 - Zazzle's response to my request for a DMCA notice.

Thank you for your email.

Your products were removed during a routine sweep of our site for Viacom properties. You may review our product policies here: http://zazzle.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/143. If you'd like to purchase officially-licensed merchandise from Viacom's various properties, you may do so here: http://www.zazzle.com/brands.

If you'd like to continue using content from Avatar: The Last Airbender, you will need to obtain permission from Viacom. If you are able to obtain permission, we'd be more than happy to produce your products for you.

Zazzle galleries are public and users may contribute content freely. Although we make every effort to ensure that the marketplace are kept free of copyrighted or otherwise inappropriate content, sometimes certain inappropriate products may become available for purchase. We rely on the efforts of our users to bring inappropriate products to our attention by using the “Report violation” link that is located on every product page. This will notify our Content Management Team to review any potentially infringing products.

Best Regards,
Erik
Content Management Team
Zazzle.com, Inc.

So I did a search for 'avatar the last airbender' and 'airbender' and found a total of two items (mine and someone else's) t-shirts. So now I'm thinking Viacom has removed EVERYONE'S products that used the search 'airbender'...not just racebending's products?

Hmmm.


ETA 2 - All's well in Zazzle/Viacom HappyLand. The racebending store now has all its products back up. Read about how it happened HERE
---------------

AVATAR: TAKE THE QUICK SURVEY!
I urge you all to fill out this quick survey over at the racebending community. Or if you're feeling lazy, you can fill it out here and I'll pass on the message:. Copy and paste in comments:
<b>AGE</b>
<b>GENDER</b>
<b>ETHNICITY</b>
<b>REASON (THREE SENTENCES ONLY)</b>

Thank you!
---------------

AVATAR: YOUTUBE CHANNEL!
Yeah baby! Racebending.com now has a YouTube Channel! It's specifically geared towards making boycotting videos for the movie, but we're also looking for creative and insightful videos regarding the protest.

More info is HERE on making your own boycott video to add to the channel (you have the freedom to be creative, but polite). If you have a video about Avatar that you'd like us to add to our Favourites, please contact boycott@racebending.com.

And, if you have a webcam or a video recorder, make your own video! I'm considering buying a webcam just for this purpose! And then maybe later for....sexy purposes.*





I KID, I KID. I AM VERY SRS BZNS ;D

(72 comments) - (Post a new comment)

	cathybites 2009-04-28 06:39 pm UTC (link)
	HOW DO THEY KNOW YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT YOUR ADOPTED BROTHER AANG? PTHBBBBBBBBBBT. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-04-28 06:56 pm UTC (link)
	Clearly Viacom already knows my adopted brother's name is Aan...yong. Ba dum bup ching! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - cathybites, 2009-04-28 07:06 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - raucousraven, 2009-05-07 08:16 am UTC (Expand)

woldy 2009-04-28 07:00 pm UTC (link)

I can't believe they are alleging that constitutes copyright infringement - even if you were using their words and images (which you imply that you weren't) then copyright includes a provision for fair use when one is critiquing something! Jeez, there's an entire film about copyright and fair use being distributed at the moment called RiP: A Remix Manifesto and if they got all-clear from their lawyers then I find it hard to believe that you're in violation. So, my suggestion - yes, it's cheeky of me to make one & I hope it doesn't offend you - is to write "censored by Viacom" in big red letters across the products they've removed from zazzle & distribute them anyway. I'd wear a t-shirt like that. (Reply to this) (Thread)

glockgal 2009-04-28 08:56 pm UTC (link)

Fo sho! I logged into the zazzle account and noticed that they deleted the products, but not the images. And what I had created the t-shirts from were these: Wherein all the art was created by me and...yeah. The supposed copyright on 'Aang' and 'The Last Airbender' is a fallacy, but - but that they took down the products with the BLUE ARROW and the little monk that I drew?!?! LIKE. WHAT. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - woldy, 2009-04-28 09:42 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - brown_betty, 2009-04-29 04:15 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - woldy, 2009-04-29 04:48 pm UTC (Expand)

sinick 2009-04-28 07:26 pm UTC (link)

IANAL, but I really think they can't do jack legally about the Aang shirt, because names alone can't be copyrighted. For years and years in Australia there was a chain of clothing stores called Gandalf's Garden - I understand the Tolkien estate weren't happy, but they couldn't actually stop the store from using the name. I think they have to go to the extra trouble of actually trademarking a name, before it's legally protected (like Harry Potter is trademarked). Edited at 2009-04-28 07:29 pm UTC (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-04-28 09:33 pm UTC (link)
	I had to google 'IANAL'. XD XD For true thought - I get Harry Potter or Mickey Mouse being copyrighted - but seriously, a BLUE ARROW? I have no idea if 'Aang' is copyrighted/trademarked as well....I somehow doubt it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	parsimonia 2009-04-28 07:35 pm UTC (link)
	I was looking at the Zazzle page the other day and I thought I was just being dense and couldn't navigate it! Because I knew there had been a wider variety of shirts the first time I'd looked. Stupid awful evil Viacom! Arg. What about using similar sites like SpreadShirt or CafePress? Or are they not as good? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-04-28 09:34 pm UTC (link)
	YEAH. I'm sure someone reported the site, but I figure this time around I should just be more subtle, more cheeky and more brazen. :D I honestly really like zazzle and chose it over cafepress. I had no idea about SpreadShirt, though! I should check it out. :D (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - rosalarian, 2009-05-06 02:54 am UTC (Expand)

caterfree10 2009-04-28 07:48 pm UTC (link)

Pardon my language, but FUCK VIACOM. I swear, between the free advertisement they're deleting on YouTube (ie, AMVs and the like) and this bullshit here (they're censoring the movement so obviously, it isn't even funny), Viacom can DIAF as far as I'm concerned. >_> Also, unless the names are copyright, they can't do jack shit on the text only shirts. Granted, they have no legal standing as it is with the images being done by you as it is, but goddamn, they are being so stupid! The more stupid shit Viacom does, the less surprised I am that the Racefail happened. God knows no one at that company had any fucking sense to begin with. *glares at screwed up Season 3 episode release schedule and the Sozin's Comet book fiasco* (Reply to this) (Thread)

glockgal 2009-04-28 09:38 pm UTC (link)

I'm still a little in shock that this even got to Viacom's radar. I'm almost wondering if I got reported by someone NOT working at Viacom, and Zazzle just listend to them because they claimed it was a Viacom copyright violation. Although, if it really was Viacom that'd be...kinda scary-awesome that they're THAT intimidated by an at-cost, grass roots protesting product store.... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - caterfree10, 2009-04-29 03:14 am UTC (Expand)

	jedifreac 2009-04-28 08:43 pm UTC (link)
	Um. I'd tell this to the CNN guy. And I'd post it to the racebending lj comm And I'd tell io9.com NOW!!! (Viacom, srsly?!) (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	jedifreac 2009-04-28 08:44 pm UTC (link)
	As in, it's ammo to fuel the flames and I'd tell as many places as possible. Maybe even boing-boing. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - jedifreac, 2009-04-28 08:51 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2009-04-28 09:34 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - jedifreac, 2009-04-28 09:51 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - glockgal, 2009-04-28 09:39 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - jedifreac, 2009-04-28 09:51 pm UTC (Expand)

parsimonia 2009-04-28 09:49 pm UTC (link)

Also, I just read this blog post. It doesn't mention the Avatar casting issue, but it's about a parent having trouble finding books with heroes who look like her daughter, and it sounds like Avatar is one of the few things that does feature female PoC heroes. Also #2! If you google "avatar last airbender casting", one of the images that comes up is THIS! Variations on the same thing get a number of other related hits, and if you type in "airbender", "airbender cotroversy" seems to be the fifth most common search (it's more popular than "airbender episode guide")! It makes me happy that the word is spreading! Are you using meta search tags on the racebending site? It's been a while since I've attempted anything close to website-making, but I think they do help a lot in getting search engines to find a site. < / babbling > Edited at 2009-04-28 09:51 pm UTC (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	jedifreac 2009-04-28 09:53 pm UTC (link)
	I was thinking about "google hacking" racebending.com to make it more prominent in search results... (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - parsimonia, 2009-04-28 09:53 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - glockgal, 2009-04-29 12:08 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - jedifreac, 2009-04-29 02:31 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - caterfree10, 2009-04-29 02:29 am UTC (Expand)

ani_bester 2009-04-28 11:59 pm UTC (link)

Maybe they targeted you because yours was negative puplicity? I know if the powers that be think you will negatively affect them then they go after you more. Like you kno I can find many muppet things, but Kermit signing a Nine-Inch Nails song, Disney follows that vid around the net to make sure it does not go back up. Becuase they think it hurts the muppet image. So I mean, your products clearly attacking a viacom product might have been seen as a threat? Maybe? That's the only earthlogic I cna dig up. Because otherwise uhh no! WTF~! (Reply to this) (Thread)

glockgal 2009-04-29 12:10 am UTC (link)

I do get it, I just don't...get it? Which is why I keep pestering Zazzle for further explanations, ahahah. I don't blame Zazzle now that they've told me it came straight from Viacom. Once I get the DMCA notice from Zazzle, hopefully it'll shed some light on where the complaint originated and all that jazz. I have to say - VIACOM seeing a measly Zazzle store as a threat, well. It's rather awesomely sad. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - jedifreac, 2009-04-29 02:33 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - luminousmarble, 2009-04-29 07:01 pm UTC (Expand)

	quietrevolution 2009-04-29 01:13 am UTC (link)
	You should definitely contact blogs and news sites about this to get it covered. Let me know what I can do to help. This isn't right! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:29 pm UTC (link)
	Yay! It just got covered by BoingBoing.net and OTW! Eeeee! I hope io9.com will also report about this. Thank you, sweetheart!! *MWAH* (Reply to this) (Parent)

	logicalargument 2009-04-29 01:53 am UTC (link)
	Hmmm, and wow. May I use your "putting the Cauc back in Asian" icon, with credit to you? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:30 pm UTC (link)
	YES!! Of course, you are made of awesome! *MWAH* (Reply to this) (Parent)

	waywardradish 2009-04-29 08:01 am UTC (link)
	*rolls up sleeves and rubs hands together* OK, I know it sounds like minor, but I really can't stress how important it is to obtain a copy of the complaint verbatim from Viacom filed with Zazzle. We will go from there. You know I've spent the better part of a year being mired in this shit-- I'm in your corner. Ping/e-mail me as soon as you receive the facsimile. ♥ (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:31 pm UTC (link)
	kjdefdkfjhdjkf Okay, I think I need to get up the gumption to file a counter-request for the DMCA notice from Zazzle. They've been rather vague....:/ (Reply to this) (Parent)

	francescacoppa 2009-04-29 01:51 pm UTC (link)
	Hey, Glockgal; I'm on the Board of the Organization For Transformative Works, and this is--wow, this is pretty unbelievably egregious! I'd like to do a post about it to draw attention to it, and I've already pinged the attention of our legal team. If there are other things we can do to help, please let me know! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:43 pm UTC (link)
	Hi there! Thanks for contacting me and I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you! I saw today's blog post on OTW and rambled for a bit there as well about my concerns. I would LOVE any sort of advice you or anyone on OTW has to offer. I'm very new to all of this. :D (Reply to this) (Parent)

	xtricks 2009-04-29 02:44 pm UTC (link)
	Have you contacted the ELF about this? Since most of what was removed were a: names (not copywritable) and b: text (also pretty quesionalbe) I'm pretty sure this would be an interesting case for them, pluse the implied supression of raceism discussions. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:45 pm UTC (link)
	Oooh! I'm sorry, what is their full name? I've never heard of the organization before, and doing a google search for 'ELF' turned out to be a bit daunting. :D Thank you for the tip! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - xtricks, 2009-05-03 05:03 pm UTC (Expand)

	cynjen 2009-04-29 03:33 pm UTC (link)
	omfg, Lori! We knew they were wrong, but now they're starting to look nasty :( Go kick their ugly suppressive butts :( (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:47 pm UTC (link)
	*SMOOCHIES* I didn't think much of it at first, but the more I considered this 'routine search' of Viacom's the more I had to question exactly why it had to happen now. :/ (Reply to this) (Parent)

vejiicakes 2009-04-30 03:02 am UTC (link)

Internet-Lawyer-In-Training-BFF says: I think in this case Zazzle is probably free to remove whatever they like from their own website (with maybe some exceptions, I'm guessing, but I don't think they'd apply here), even if they're inaccurate with their legal theories. (Their legal theory could very well just be "Cuz we felt like it!") The good news is that your friend probably doesn't have to worry about being sued for copyright infringement. The bad news is that Zazzle isn't compelled to do anything. I asked if you'd be subject to legal action if you just popped the same products back up on your Zazzle page (though I don't know if you'd want to at this point, what with them being unhelpful tools) but: Well...probably not. But I imagine they'd just take it back down again. (I think someone with legal-fu commented on her post, so their word is probably better than mine.) Let me revise this. She wouldn't lose in court, anyway. I don't know about the rest. Edited at 2009-04-30 03:03 am UTC (Reply to this) (Thread)

	glockgal 2009-05-03 04:47 pm UTC (link)
	Good to know bb!! I definitely put up more stuff on Zazzle and even got all cheeky and put 'Censored by V1acom' on it (my use of the word 'Viacom' got the product removed...AGAIN). This is turning out to be a big learning experience, and I'm glad to see there's already been some coverage on it. \o/! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) - jedifreac, 2009-05-05 09:25 pm UTC (Expand)

	lynnenne 2009-05-03 06:11 am UTC (link)
	Viacom = fail. Zazzle = fail. Censorship = FAIL. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	pwvjgxccmsn 2009-06-19 06:11 pm UTC (link)
	Great. And the question is: am I able to use one of these avatars? (Reply to this) (Parent)

Hmm.....maybe Viacom gave you an opportunity... nabesean 2009-05-03 02:39 pm UTC (link)

Maybe you aren't suppose to sell them. Maybe they are suppose to be donated for free with a donation. I'd donate a a fist full of greenbacks for a worthy cause for a shirt. It isn't for sale so you aren't using it for profit. Give it away for a penny, a dollar, a c-note. What is the collection for? Getting a law firms backing for Viacaom's abuse of alleged power. And since this about VIACOMglomerate shutting down the little man make allies with any and all that Viacom has messed with. I think this is the time where we as fan do more than shout and wave our fists and yell at companies in 50 floor towers of iron and tempered glass. We must start showing the world it's not about fans complaining about race changing. That it's about distorting the truth for capital gains. (Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Hmm.....maybe Viacom gave you an opportunity... glockgal 2009-05-03 04:02 pm UTC (link)

We do offer all of the slogans and images for free on our racebending.com website, actually. And we provide the link on the Zazzle store - so if people can't purchase a ready-made product, they can download and print any of the protest material themselves. We have the store on Zazzle just in case people would rather purchase a product rather than make it themselves. But as I said, I am taking ZERO money from any sales on Zazzle. Any commission being made (because Zazzle insists on a minimum 10% commission) will be collected and - if it's over $10 - donated to MANAA or - if it's maximum $10 - renewing the racebending.com website. Anyway, we've been doing more than just 'shouting and waving our fists', and we've been doing a lot to show why their choices were clearly marketing-driven. Besides, I don't think it's all that bad for fans to want to protest racism. Fighting racism is important to share with regular people, because it's regular people who'll make the choice to spend their money on Viacom's marketing machine. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: Hmm.....maybe Viacom gave you an opportunity... - nabesean, 2009-05-03 05:17 pm UTC (Expand)

	firechild10 2009-05-03 05:25 pm UTC (link)
	Came over here from Boing Boing -- kudos to you for taking a stand. It's nice to know there are other people out there who feel the same way I do and are doing something about it! I'm bookmarking racebending.com and I've signed the petition, and I really hope we can make ourselves heard. ps - LOVE the icons. :D http://firechild10.livejournal.com/25898.html (Reply to this)

	mousewrites 2009-05-03 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, hon. Saw this on BoingBoing, and went, that sucks... HEY, I know her!! I can't believe Viacom is a) not attempting to cast actors that are Asian and Inuit actors, and b) that they DMCAed you. Bastards. (Reply to this)

	pip_r_lagenta 2009-05-03 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	Heh! I, too, once used a word on a Zazzle product that was wholly owned by Viacom. In my case the word was “Colbert”: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pip_r_lagenta/3328737287/ I think that adding “Censored by Viacom” to the image is a great idea. Maybe I'll do that too... some day. (Reply to this) (Thread)(Expand)

	wow (Anonymous) 2009-05-04 04:16 pm UTC (link)
	may i use the cauc asian logo on my blog for a few weeks? i would love to support this. typicallydia.com (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: wow - glockgal, 2009-05-04 04:35 pm UTC (Expand)

(no subject) - glockgal, 2009-05-04 04:34 pm UTC (Expand)

Reasons behind it all... lord_fidget 2009-05-04 09:57 pm UTC (link)

Do any of you realize why Viacom (and other companies) can do this? Its because for the past 30 years, the (republican owned) Government has allowed Conglomerates and Large Corporations to do as they damn well please. The best way to fight shit like this, is to FLOOD your representative with emails and letters complaining about the egregious use of illegal/unethical business practices. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Reasons behind it all... (Anonymous) 2009-05-04 10:23 pm UTC (link)
	Or its because we have laws to keep individuals from profiting from the Intellectual property of others. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cauc|asian (Anonymous) 2009-05-05 02:31 am UTC (link)
	thank you glockgal ~ i have posted a blog entry on a related subject and linked back. and yes, i am lazy :) 33 femme cauc being a citizen of the world, a fan of free speech, and not a fan of amerimanga as it is, i support what i think is a healthy boycott. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: cauc|asian (Anonymous) 2009-05-05 02:32 am UTC (link)
	p.s. i also just plain old like the design of the shirts! typicallydia.com (Reply to this) (Parent)

	Article in Support (Anonymous) 2009-05-05 06:59 am UTC (link)
	http://stillplaysvideogames.today.com/2009/05/05/viacomoh-really-you-own-what-exactly/ This link, will get you to another poke at Viacom for being silly buggers, and mentions your store. We'd love to have any feedback, input, or suggestions to further raise awareness. Thanks for bringing this to light! (Reply to this)

Zazzle stuff scrollgirl 2009-05-05 02:53 pm UTC (link)

I just sent a note to Viacom, and they responded *immediately* (so I guess this is now on their radar) and they said: "We didn’t take anything down from Glockgal’s Zazzle store. Zazzle did it without our request or our knowledge. When we eventually heard about what they had done, we asked them to restore the merchandise as quickly as possible." (5 May 2009, 10:42am Eastern) But I don't see everything back up on your site yet. Have you had a response from Zazzle? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Zazzle stuff glockgal 2009-05-06 01:21 am UTC (link)
	Wow. Thanks for sending me the private message as well - I'm kinda reeling from this alone! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: Zazzle stuff - scrollgirl, 2009-05-06 02:19 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Zazzle stuff - jedifreac, 2009-05-06 05:58 am UTC (Expand)

Comment from Richard M Stallman (Anonymous) 2009-05-10 03:58 am UTC (link)

Zazzle and Viacom are hiding behind the vague generalization "intellectual property". By using that term they are avoiding even telling you what law they claim your products violate. There is no law forbidding "using VIACOM content". There are specific laws which prohibit specific things. The term "intellectual property" is designed to hide these laws with a confused blur. I suggest you demand that they tell you concretely what objection they have to each of your products. Which law do they think it violates, and why? "Intellectual property" is not an answer; it is a way not to answer. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html for more explanation about why we should reject this confusing propaganda term. Richard Stallman (Reply to this)

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(72 comments) - (Post a new comment)